St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-06

ICot VI tIIC biIHc ticy arc lclt w tlOil
own devices. A curious result of this
lack of janitor shows in our dealings
with the postman, or s'letter carrier" as
he is invariably called in this country.
Three or four times day comes ring
at our bella ring in no way different
from every other ring through the day.
We hasten to the speaking tube and cry
blithely, not ''Qui va?" not soul vive?'
not even WHO'S there?" but the sim
pie, airy interrogatiye "Yes?"
Up from far regions below comes a
deep-mOuthed baylor so it always
seems-''Lettersp
Thereup0n we trip from our fiat upon
the wide landing outside, so much wider
than Partisan ones, as all American
spaces are. Outside familiar basket
awaits us, one kept for exactly such
occasions as this. The basket we pro-
coed to let down by long cord into the
we'll of the lower hall, drawing it up a
moment later charged with whatever
Uncle Sans mail may have transmitted
to us.
Those who have never tried it cannot
Imagine the peculiar mental impress
SiOnS, and emotional ones, too, caused
by sight Of ones letters swirling diZZily
up from well, and drawn hand over
hand from out of the infinite pOSSlbill-
ties of veal or woe, of good fortune OF
bad, of disappointment and disaster, of
comedy and tragedy, that life holds.
Far down we see a wide-bordered
mourning letter, writhing and twisting
up with the twisting cord; and a thou
sand black terrOrS gather about, as we
think of first one and then another of
our absent dear ones, whose going
must leave us desolate. The black
bOrdered messenger may but bid US to
the funeral of some Indifferent ac-
quaintance; and we should have known
as much at sight had we received it from
the postman'S hands, but for space OF
three OF four minutes it has been a
black spectre to our souls. The yellow
envelope, we are sure, is a lawyers let
ter telling of our accession to Aunt
Stingee's fortune; and until we see
MERGERS address on the corner,
we can hardly draw up our basket
for exuItation. When bundles OF
newspapers dance up, we are sure our
manuscript ANONYMOUSLY comes back
from the unappreciative publisher; and,
when that manuscript really does come,
we draw airily, convinced that nothing
but newspapers load the wicker vehicle.
Another time may come ring at our
bell. Anticipating letters of friendly
call, down again goes our Sweetly tubed
"YeS?" Then from the regions of myS-
terry below comes the pungent query:
Got emmy rags, bottles, paperS?"
Like the majority of Americans OF but
moderate means, and unlike English
women of the same, we keep no Serv-
ants. Neither have we an elevator or
lift as more expensive flats have. Hence
it becomes necessary to employ femme
de menage, who tonnes to us at every
morning, and leaves US only after the
dinner is cleared away at night. This
woman is ''an American of African
descent" She does all our errands,
and, indeed, all our household
work save cooking. This she
absolutely refuses to touch, de-
claring she amt nobuddy'S cook, and
don't pretend to be nothing but fust
class scrub lady," When we go out we
never dare leave this dusky Phillis in
charge of our door bell and speaking
tube, lest she yell some betiSe down to
the most ceremOnious of our visitors, or
invite the rag -and-bOttle man up to adj
mire our new piano. SO we leave card
over the door plate bearing our name,
and directly under the tube belonging
to it, with the word 'Out' upon the
card Tins the blessed assurance
brOOds over our souls that our friends
may not hear from the world above:
''Ain't no use your comm up; she
amt to hOmeD
In France our matron was always
MI lame" In England she has been
Known to be 1.-The miSSiS." in this
land of the brave and home of the free
all titles fall from her, and leave her in
the primeval simplicity of ''she."
Various features of our American
fatting are vastly different from any
thing in English housekeeping. Our
pretty hand-painted china is manu-
featured in France expressly for a Bos-
ton firm. so we read m
scribed upon the reverse side
of every article, of it. we
should know this without the assurance,
because of the generous preserve saul
GERS that are part of it, and the tiny
round plates for butter, known i'll Amer
lea as individuals" because every in
dividual is supplied with one as natur-
ally as with his cup and saucer. so,
too, unlike English ways, our baked
bean pot is almost the largest of our
food-containing vessels, while our '"lar-
sis jug, wide our scrub lady-is larger
treacle jug than perhaps ever sweet
ened an English menage the size of ours
since the world began. MolaSseS goes
into our almost daily gingerbread-into
cookies, johnny cake, apple sauce, Ora
ham gems, barberry preserves, brown
bread: even into our baked beans!
Nevertheless, treacle tart-that climax
of our English boarding school bliSs-iS
an unknown luxury here; and the very
description of it is received with shifts
of tip-tilted nose that remind us of our
long ago shifts and tip-tiltingS at the de-
corintjOn of English Dork OieS
Pork pies! Such horror they were
to me for time that | conceived an feS-
thetic and, for long time. immovable
antipathy against the empress of the
French, hearing her described as wear
ing pork pie hat! How absolutely
ridiculous and unreasonable that preju-
dice seemed to my English schOolmates,
| since have had reason to realize by my
own virtuouS wrath and contempt at an
Ennlishman who, in my presence, called
our beloved Yankee doughnutS ''beastly
things-all grease"
''If you never ate any other than
greasy dOughnuts," l answered with
highly superior air, you have no right
to express any opinion whatever con-
corning dOughnuts.'